Charter schools making headway in communities

A large billboard sits above Campo Road in Rancho San Diego, not far from Steele Canyon Charter High School, part of the marketing program, promoting the school to new students. The billboards, three in total around East County, are in response to the high school being cut out of the new boundary map crafted by the Grossmont Union High School District. U-T file photo

A large billboard sits above Campo Road in Rancho San Diego, not far from Steele Canyon Charter High School, part of the marketing program, promoting the school to new students. The billboards, three in total around East County, are in response to the high school being cut out of the new boundary map crafted by the Grossmont Union High School District. U-T file photo

It was 20 years ago that Gov. Pete Wilson signed the California Charter Schools Act into law, and California became the second state, after Minnesota, to approve charter schools. With the governor’s signature, the door in the Golden State was opened, creating an innovative educational laboratory. New theories, practices and academic programming could be introduced with the sole purpose of positively impacting students with a specific five-year timeline in place.

The traditional school districts have watched closely as these schools have successfully taken on some of the most resistant students, in some of the toughest neighborhoods. The myth perpetuated by some naysayers would have you believe that charter schools only take the “good kids,” the “successful students,” etc. This is simply not true.

Over the last two decades, numerous charter schools have closed due to financial insolvency or a failed academic reputation. Taxpayers scratch their heads wondering why you can close a failing public charter school, but when traditional programs nationwide have the same issues, these schools are not closed. Communities and their children struggle and suffer as a result of this double standard. We are fortunate in our local community to have some great traditional school models that consistently make academic gains. Families are enjoying the high-quality options available in traditional and charter schools that were not available even a decade ago.

Charter schools have made headway in communities across America over the past 20 years and are now serving 5 percent of public school students. Although the reputation of charter schools is strengthening, there is still a sector of the public that is unaware that charter schools are indeed publicly funded. Over the last two decades, charter schools have gotten a bad rap by having some claim that these schools are the panacea for the public school system. Charter schools are merely educational models established to add to the academic options available in a community to help meet the needs of all students. What is best is when the local school district views the successes at charter schools, understands that these schools are bettering the educational landscape in their communities, and as such, implements innovation and change that benefit students in the traditional public school.

Although they serve public school students, charter schools from their very inception in 1992 have not received per-student funding at the same level as traditional schools. It is true that charter schools are expected to accomplish more with less. The funding gap created 20 years ago continues, and the inequity creates a greater burden on charter schools to produce sustainable positive outcomes with students over the long haul. Charter schools have less in state funds to budget with, and in most cases are required to provide for their own school facilities. Traditional public schools have the benefit of full funding per student and a facility provided for them by the state.

Charter schools have the freedom to operate outside much of the established education code. However, these schools are held to a higher standard when it comes to their academic outcomes and financial management as established in the charter school legislation. For instance, the promise was made that when these schools fail, they will be closed. Charter schools are also held to a higher standard when it comes to public critique. Numerous articles and publications have taken potshots at charter schools at the expense of shifting the focus off the challenges traditional schools face in dealing with 95 percent of public school students.